I’m Squatted Out

After two days of (heavy) Back Squats and Front Squats, I can squat no more. My legs are J-E-L-L-O! As much as I know how great squats are for you I do hope we are done for the week at the BOOM Box.

As for my wrist, it’s still a pain in the buttocks but it is what it is, right?

As far as the BOOM Box, instead of having my poor poor petri moments, I sucked it up and showed up last night and this morning. I just gotta push through and modify where I need to modify. I still have the work weight loss competition and WODAPALOOZA is a month and a half away.

10/22/13
Midline: 100 situps
It’s situps. Wooooo. Not sure how long it took me but I was chatty so I took some breaks

Strength: Press 3,3,3,3,3
Wasn’t sure how this would go with the hurt chicken wing but as long as I held my wrist vertical without letting the bar roll back, LIKE I ALWAYS DO, it was fine at lighter weights. Got to my max weight and I just couldn’t do it. So I dropped back down to 65lbs and finished it out.

MetCon: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Front Squat (185,135) 5-10-15-20-25-30-35-40-45-50 Lateral bar jumps
My legs are still smoked from the Back Squats on Monday. And I know I can’t do 135lbs for that many reps. My 1RM is 155 which is nice and all but 135 is still heavy. The idea was to Clean the weight. But that’s a no go for me. I tried to Zombie it out but I wasn’t comfortable.

Example of a “zombie” front squat 😀

So I Frankensteined it and still struggled but managed to complete the reps at 85lbs.

Heheh Arnold showing you what I call a “frankenstein” front squat.

The killer part was the Lateral Bar Jumps. We had to do 10 Front Squats, then 5 Lateral Bar Jumps, 9 Front Squats, 10 Lateral Bar Jumps, etc. After the 30 lateral jump mark, I was just smoked. I’d do 5 at time, 10 at a time, etc. And the Squats got easier. Damn those JUMPS! Time: 22:25

10/22/13 WOD

10/23/13
Midline: 30 russian Kettle Bell swings heavy
We sure are doing a lot of MIDLINE lately. I guess it’s good for me, right? The other day I used the baby 26lb KB because I didn’t want to wait for the second heat. Today I warmed up with the baby KB, then tried out the 35lb then went ahead and did the 53lb KB for the 30 reps. Boy did my back feel that. All the dang squats we’ve done. And me losing some form on Monday and my back is tired!

Strength: 10 min EMOM 5 Power Cleans 165/115
More stuff I can’t do and I LOVE Power Cleans! Ah well. I went with Deadlifts at the same weight. My grip is sucky but I didn’t have any other problems than that.

10/23/13 WOD

Conditioning: 3 rounds yoke push 100ft (yoke + 140/100lbs) sprint 200m rest as needed
When I was crusty eyed this morning I failed to see the 100lbs part of the YOKE push. Seriously. I have a hard enough time pushing the darn thing with NO weight on it. Coach T asked if I wanted to try it with 50lbs first. I said eh, I better try with 100lbs and if I can’t then I’ll drop to 50lbs. Surprisingly, I started pushing well. SLOW, but the thing was moving. I stopped several times after my big initial push but I made it to the cone and took off running. That took me about 4 minutes. My 2nd Yoke push would now be uphill and I really wasn’t sure if I’d move it this time around. But I did! WAY slower than the first one but it was moving. Talk about calves and lungs wanting to explode! That round took me 4:35. Still not bad considering how long my rests were on the yoke push. At one point, I even compared all my “pushing” to giving labor! Not even remotely close to the same kind of pain. But pushing with the same kind of gusto. For the third round, I was fully prepared to practice my non existent telekinesis. Maybe my brain would just move the Yoke. Sadly, I still have zero superpowers so I had to push it. For some reason it seemed lighter and I went much further on my initial heave ho. Took off on my trot and finished in 3:43! How’s that for being AWESOME?!?

In other news
You know I’m always rambling on about quitting with the excuses and just get moving. And maybe you recall me talking about walking around our building here at work with one of my co-workers. Maybe? Maybe not!

What I’m trying to get at is that any little activity is better than no activity at all. Sure I LOVE the CrossFit and will probably always love the CrossFit but I enjoy doing other things as well. And maybe you’re aren’t confident in doing too many things but if you can just take a lap around your neighborhood, then you are one step closer to a healthier you. You may start off slow but that’s ok. You will pick up the pace. We measured one lap around our building is .33 miles. When we first started we were taking well over 9:30 minutes. Now just a few weeks later we are at 8:10 minutes. My co-worker doesn’t live the most active lifestyle but with baby steps we’ll get there and sure enough progress is progress!

We decided to take our lunch to some local walking trails yesterday. Not only was it a great mental break, we got some movement in too!

I did a quick search on the interwebs and mayoclinic.com lists some benefits for brisk walking:

Maintain a healthy weight

Prevent or manage various conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes

Strengthen your bones

Lift your mood

Improve your balance and coordination

So there you have it. Before you know it, you’ll be running, hitting up your local gym or even trying out CrossFit! Be a healthier you! It’s worth it, I promise ツ

And that’s all for today! Get moving. Eat clean. Enjoy life. And of course be Aaaawwweeesssooommmmeee!

Obsessed, Insanity or Just a Healthy Addiction

This morning my two alarms went off and I hit snooze on both of them twice…. I KNOW I KNOW, not good for the brain and body! Let me just say that the inventor of SNOOZE is evil! But I digress. It was time to wake up and as I plopped out of bed, my every fiber was aching. Now was a good time to crawl back under the covers. This urge to stay in bed is the constant battle I have. When the cold hits, it will be an even bigger battle. I know I’m not alone. Early Birders you have to agree that your comfy bed is begging you to sleep just a lil longer.

So I make the choice to walk to my sink. I brush my teeth and put my hair up. I walk to my dresser to get my clothes and stand there. I think again about how much every muscle is sore and drained. I think again of crawling back into bed. I debate on how much more sleep I will actually get if I just lay back down. I may have fallen asleep standing up because I stood there for what felt like a rather long time. I’m sure it was less than a minute but it felt like 10 minutes. I had to convince myself that I was halfway to being ready. Don’t ruin it. Plus I’m in that darn Work Weight Loss comp and I need to stay focused. I also will regret not working out all day. I dressed and drove my tired ass to the Boom Box.

So I ask myself. Am I obsessed, insane or is this considered a “healthy” addiction. A health addict. Probably a little bit of everything to be honest. I know not every CrossFitter is all of the above. I know the term “addict” is deemed as negative but in this instance as long as I’m not hurting myself (which I’m not) I do believe you can say you have a healthy addiction. I’m pretty sure there are several Boom Boxers who take it as a workout and move on. But there are quite a few of us who might go into withdrawals if MIA for too long. In general though, whether I drink the kool-aid or not, I would be striving to a healthier me. I have just found that CrossFit fits my needs the best in many aspects. And I’d rather have a workout addiction than any other kind.

End Ramble.

9/25/13 WOD
Midline: 30 evil wheels
Evil is correct. Especially when my ABS are still fried from Friday! Doh! Below is kind of what they look like. Just like the handy dandy AB WHEEL but with a barbell. Roll out to preferably a plank position and roll back in. I probably didn’t even get halfway to a plank position.

Skill: Handstand Push Ups
Ugh. I used to be close to having these. I even had a handful of kipping HSPUs. But I know my recent weight gain has hindered me. I really have hopeful thoughts that when I shed some pounds I will be closer to mastering the HSPU.

MetCon: TABATA: Row (for calories), HSPU, Bottom to Bottom Airsquats and Strict Press 45/35
TABATA can SUCK IT TOO! For those who don’t know, TABATA is taking a movement and doing said movement for 20 seconds. You then rest 10 seconds. Alternate between work and rest for 8 rounds (4minutes). The idea is to go HARD for 20 seconds, since I know you folks who haven’t participated in such a ‘simple” workout are probably saying how can that be hard. There are different ways to score your TABATA. You can score by adding up all reps. Or you score, like we did today, by using your lowest rep count as your score. So if you start of strong with 10 reps but by round 8 are only doing 5 reps, then your score is 5. Not fun!

9/25/13 WOD

The rowing was nice, I did well, for me at least. But only managing 4 calories each round. At least I stayed consistent. WE then moved onto HSPU. Well I used a box for assistance and only managed to stick with 6. These were a beating but not the beating the Air Squats delivered. I started off with 12 air squats. My hips were achy already and this just killed them. Sitting in the bottom of the squat for our “rest” was nice for the first 2 rounds then it just become misery. I went from 12 to finishing with 5. Womp Womp! Then came Strict Press. The shoulders are dead from HSPU but it’s a light weight 35lbs. So how come it felt like 90lbs?!? I stuck with 8 reps through 6 of the rounds but finished with 7 reps. Everything added up = 22reps. Booo. Hissss.

Barbells For Boobs
Time is ticking. Boom for Boobs will be here 2 1/2 weeks! Yikes, I don’t think I’m ready! But I’m doing it regardless. MY biggest fear is that I won’t beat my current RX Grace time! How sad is that? It’s a workout for FUN! And it’s a workout to support B4B. But my competitive side doesn’t want to fail. It still will be fun and all the fundraising goes to a great cause.

If you’d like to support the B4B organization, please go to my fundraising page HELP SAVE BOOBIES and donate. My goal is $100 and I’m halfway there.

Also, if you want to participate with us at the BOOM Box you are welcome. Even if you just want to spectate then come on out. The workout will be Grace (30 clean and jerks). Everyone is welcome to join in. It’s at 9am on Saturday Oct 12th.

The End.
That’s a wrap folks. I need a driver to to safely drive me home from work so I can nap. Any volunteers? Hehe. I know that’s a little far fetched, but I’m sleepy! Make today great and don’t forget to be awesome!

Being Consistent

Consistency does pay off. I know it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that but I think all of us will try to make excuses for everything if we let ourselves. Just because 2 weeks of trying to eat better and exercise isn’t showing any results doesn’t mean that the 3rd week, the week you may have quit, wasn’t going to be your “golden” week. It may even be the second month. But you will NEVER know if you QUIT!

I’m pretty sure most of us always want those INSTANT results. In a time of growing technology, the faster the better! Quick food, quick apps, quick everything. Quick weight loss and body results are just fantasy! The stuff we see in magazines. The mid day shows that promise and guarantee weight loss without putting in the WORK that it really takes to achieve those goals. We all want the easy route. Who doesn’t want that route? Only thing is, it’s not easy. EVEN if one of those gimmicky plans worked, it would only be for the short term. Why even bother? I want results and I want the results to stay. I was on track, being the most awesome I have ever been and then I derailed. Big time. Gained some LBs and woke up and said WHOA where did those come from? Well they came from stuffing my face and showing up to the Boom Box like once a week. My consistency went down the drain and I was a HOT MESS and it was ugly.

Now I’ve cleaned up MOST of my eating, not all but most. I promise, FOOD, it’s a bad addiction sometimes. But I’m cleaning it up and I’m CONSISTENTLY showing up to the BOOM Box and whaddyaknow…. my progress is showing up in WODs and in my strength. Again, this doesn’t take an expert to know that putting in work will make you better, stronger and faster (well faster is questionable in my case :D). But it’s something that I know we all just put to the side. We make excuses. We justify our poor eating habits and lack of exercise through busy lives and schedules.

With my dedicated 4-6 workouts a week and at least 80% clean eating, heavy weight is becoming easier light weight. PRs are here. And I’m feeling that confidence come back that comes with killing WODs. Although I’m still a MAJOR work in progress, it’s coming along. Much slower than I was planning but it’s coming along none the less!

8/6/13 WOD and my 2nd ever DNF (womp womp)
If you look closely at the pic next to my name there is NOTHING. No time recorded. It was a sad day for me mentally and physically. I had just flown through Power Cleans at 95lbs and was feeling great and was actually looking forward to the Kettle Bell Swings and Toes To Bar.

8/6/13 WOD

I’m not great at TTB but I’ve made some progress and I’m getting them knocked out even if it’s only 1 at a time. It wasn’t till my last round of TTB that I just lost all my energy, juice, mojo, etc. My toes weren’t touching that bar. I struggled a lot in the round of 15 but managed to finish. I thought 9 more wasn’t out of the question. But for this day, it was completely not going to happen. Not in the class time anyways. I probably had 50 ALMOST TTB but only managed about 5 for that last round. The next class was already starting and I wasn’t going to be able to knock out the last 4. I knew I didn’t have it in me. And I realized that it was going to be OKAY if I didn’t finish. I wasn’t going to get kicked out of the BOOM Box. No one was going to tell me I was a loser, except for me of course and the world was going to keep on spinning. It did take the wind out of my sails for a few hours but I realized I did 41 TTB in about 20 minutes which in the end was pretty GREAT for me who sucks at the TTB. I felt much better the next day and I know that I made progress.

8/7/13 WOD
I wasn’t sure how I would feel walking back into the BOOM Box after sucking so bad the day before but I was fine. The WOD wasn’t for time. There was just work to be done.

MetCon: 3 rounds of Row 250m and 8 Box Jumps 40in/30in THEN 3 x 8 @ 90% of 5RM Press and 1 x ME @ 70% 4 sec negatives

We worked on Box Jumps and well I’m scared of the box and I don’t know why but I am. I jumped a few times on the 20in, then a few on the 24in, then just stared at the 30in. Went back to 24in and put a 25lb plate on top. Made it. Put another 25lb plate on top. Made it. Ok I’m good right there.

8/7/13 WOD

That was till we rowed. It was only a 250m row As Fast As I Could Go. But it was enough to take some JUMP out of my legs. So I took one of the 25lb plates away and jumped on the one. That probably made it a 27in jump. I didn’t measure. But I finished!

We moved onto strict Press afterwards and 65lbs was my 5RM from the week before so I went off that. Each set started off great but it was always at the 6th rep where I felt it hit me. Still got through the last 2 reps but the weight felt so HEAVY. My shoulders were dying by the end and I wasn’t sure how long I’d last with those negatives. I started off feeling like this will be easy but I only managed about 12 reps. My triceps were on FIRE!

8/9/13 WOD
Strength: Front Squats 4 @75%, 3×4 @80%
That puts me at 110lbs and 115lbs. Surprisingly this was feeling pretty good. I didn’t struggle. Woohoo, getting stronger.

8/9/13 WOD

MetCon: 5 rounds of 9 Deadlift 85lbs, 6 Power Clean and 3 Power Snatches
I can DL 85lbs easy breezy. Power Clean 85lbs fairly well but it’s a NO WAY on the Power Snatch. Theoretically I should be able to do it. But that Brain of mine likes to get in the way. But I needed to settle on a weight I could do. So I warmed/worked my way up to 75lbs. My current best. And it felt good. So I stepped up to 80lbs. DONE! PR right there. I thought well hey I got this, so I added 5 more pounds and maybe just maybe I can do this RX. Got the weight to my eyeballs and failed. There was no dropping under that weight. Boldly I decided I would work with 80lbs. Good or bad idea. I wasn’t sure till the clock started. I failed on my first 2 attempts in the first round! I should drop weight is what I immediately told myself. But I gave it one more shot and although it was sloppy I got the weight up. Took some deep breaths and finished out the 3 reps. Still debated if I should drop in weight and talked myself into staying at the weight. It wasn’t a matter on if it was too heavy, it was just a matter of me doing it. Plus it was only 3 reps at a time. Again these weren’t the prettiest Snatches but I wasn’t HURTING or feeling like I was going to be hurt so I stuck with it. 5 rounds was not an easy task. That’s 45 Deadlifts, 30 Power Cleans and 15 Power Snatches, at a Personal BEST I might add! Time: 10:53

8/10/13 Community WOD
Finally a Community WOD that didn’t involve running! I was so excited! Of course until Coach explained what was going to go down. And then, and then and then. That’s all I heard. Teams of 4; 2 guys, 2 girls. 50 Thrusters each (my once favorite now least favorite movement). While the guys are going the girls will be holding Kettle Bells (35lb) overhead. Girls can’t drop the KB and if they do guys must stop doing Thrusters. Girls can transfer KB but only from overhead position. And no one can let the barbell touch the ground! DOH! That’s a lot of weight not being able to touch the ground. Who knows how long this will take. Our guys, Kyle and Micah, did great. Breaking up their sets nicely and not dropping the bar. Us ladies did fine managing how long we held onto the KB before switching. Once the guys were done we had to change the weight on the barbell before continuing. Almost moved too quickly removing weight but it all worked out fine. I went first on the Thrusters (55lbs). Annette and I decided to start of with sets of 10 and if we had to drop to sets of 5 then so be it. Just do the work. I was feeling great doing sets of 10 until I finished my 3rd set. I knew I wouldn’t survive that again. So I said I HAD to do sets of 5. This way I wouldn’t quit or be tempted to drop the bar. I moved as fast as I could. RUNNING wasn’t involved, I had no excuses! I think Annette and I had a good pace going and a good way of transferring the bar between us. I know our guys weredoing just fine holding the 53lb KB. Never let it down. Time: 12:05! FInally KILLED a Saturday WOD.

8/12/13 WOD SQUAT HEAVY DAY
Strength: Back Squats; 5 @70%, 5 @ 80%, 2 @85%, 3 @90% and 1 @100%
Everything was feeling AWESOME till I got to 2 @85%. IT felt so HEAVY. Manageable but HEAVY, so I wasn’t sure what 3 @90% would be. Guess what? It felt lighter than 85%. So weird but definitely good. So hitting the 1 rep at 165lbs was great! Really looking forward to a PR!

MetCon: 3 rounds of 400m run, 15 Ring Dips and 10 Burpee Handstand Get Ups
UGH! more running. If it weren’t for the running I would have beat this WOD up, no problem. But there was that run. Each round. And they were ugly slow runs. I went with the Green Band for the Ring Dips. My shoulders are sensitive creatures and I didn’t want to blow them out. My first round I did 10 and 5. My second round I did UNBROKEN! And my third round I went 8 and 7. As for Burpee Handstand Get Ups, they weren’t miserable but they weren’t fun. I’ve explained in the past I have a hard time breathing heavy and being UPSIDE DOWN. It’s just hard to breathe when you are out of breath. I knocked these out in sets of 5 each round. Just to regain some composure. I surely didn’t want to fall over out of dizziness or something worse. Time: 21:20. The runs did me in

8/12/13 WOD

How’s that a for a week of ups, downs and all arounds? I’m slowly getting back into everything and I’m struggling and succeeding. All part of it. Learning and growing. Being consistent! Hopefully I’ll get back to a more normal blogging schedule as well. This once a week posting is sad. So hopefully I’ll get back to more of daily thing. Who knows. Have a happy and joyful Tuesday. And until you see me again… next week?? hahah, Be AWESOME!

Trying

So my gung ho declaration of getting back on track went strong for 2 days. Then my car died and I missed a work out. Then I had a mental breakdown due to my car dying and there went another missed day at the BOX. And then (think Dude, Where’s my Car, Chinese restaurant lady) baseball took over friday and saturday. And then and then and then and then! UGH.

So we cycle back to a new week and I’m pulling myself out of the pit of my depression and yesterday began Day 1 of eating clean. It wasn’t a perfect clean but it was 95% on point. Which is 95% better than what Wednesday through Sunday! This morning as part of breakfast I go with two tablespoons of Almond Butter and what do I read on the label? SUGAR! NOOOOO. Ok Sugar is not going to kill me instantly but it’s not CLEAN eating. I was surprised that this particular brand that I’ve purchased before has sugar in it! I figured all of this brand was sugar free. Doh! I just grabbed it off the shelf thinking it was good to go. That’s Wal-mart for you! It was a small jar and it’s so much better than what I’ve been eating so I’ll get through it and be more mindful for the future.

Now if I can just get past 2 days and even through a whole weekend! Then I know I’m getting somewhere. At least I haven’t completely fallen off the CrossFit train. Showing up, although sucking at life, is still better than not showing up. Keeps me connected and definitely shows me how hard it is to eat like crap and perform well. Cause I’m not performing well at all! In 9 days I’ve worked out 3 times. Out of those three times I forgot to take pictures for 2 of the workouts. One more thing to add to the list of eating like crap. The brain fog takes over and I forget everything! SMH!

Nice salad full of protein and fat!

6/3/13 CrossFit Total
Yikes! My first dedicated day to getting back to it and it’s CFT! I haven’t worked on anything consistently. I’m not even sure I’ll hit my 1RM on these movements. What’s CFT you ask? It’s comprised of 3 lifts. Back Squat, Overhead Press and Deadlift. You do 1 Rep Max of Back Squat, Press and Deadlift. You get 3 attempts at each movement to get the biggest lift. You also get a time frame of 15 minutes per lift. Then you add up your lifts to get your CFT. Like I mentioned and as you all know due to my lack of blogging, I have barely been showing up. I have been eating like crap and there is no consistency in any of the mentioned lifts! Sigh! I have to just relax and let it be. It is what it is and I can’t change that.

6/3/13 CrossFit Total

15 minutes goes by really quickly to warm up and get those 3 lifts in. In my warming up for my Squat the bar felt heavy and I just couldn’t picture myself hitting my 1RM and guess what I didn’t! I got to 155lbs which is 10lbs off. Booooo! Next up Press. I was looking for a PR because I’ve been stuck at 75lbs for what seems like forever but NOPE, NO SIR, NOT GONNA HAPPEN. At least I made the 75lbs or else I probably would have cried. Deadlift, last but not least and the only lift I had any confidence in for the day. There was quite of a few of us in class so I had to wait around for plates. Which ate up a lot of my time. So I only got 2 lifts in but guess what? I finally PR’d a lift! 225lbs. That’s a 10lb PR and I’ll take what I can get!

As for the last time I did CFT back in August…I went from 400 for my total to 455. It’s a PR which is nice but I know it should have been much bigger than that!

6/4/13 WOD
Warm Up: 30 GHD Hip-ext, 30 GHD sit-ups, Shoulder mobility
Missed this as I drove up right as class was starting

Skill/Strength: Hand Stand Walk Practice
This was so easy in my former life. I can hold a handstand but not for long so walking is out of the question. I will have it back one day I know it!

METCON: 3 rounds for time of – 12 Burpee Pull-ups, 7 Power cleans 185/115
Seriously? 3 rounds is quick is what I kept telling myself when the voice in my head was telling me to stay home. And I love me some Cleans and it’s been so long. So there I was trying to figure out how I was going to scale Burpee Pull Ups. After the burpee, I had to jump up onto stacked plates and do a jumping pull up. Those were pretty miserable but even more so after heavy Power Cleans. I went with 95lbs which again is HEAVY when you’ve been a slacker. And doing burpees after that was a butt whoopin. I made it with a time of 9:41. I survived!

6/10/13 WOD
Skill/Strength: Front Squat work up to a heavy 3
Now I really haven’t done any Front Squat work in months so I was scared what HEAVY would be for me. Turns out my heavy was 125lbs. Which is 10lbs less than my 1RM. So that’s not too bad. I haven’t had too much strength loss there.

METCON: 8 min AMRAP of Run 200m, 20 HR PU, 10 Push Jerks 145/100#
-then (no rest)- 3 min ME Lateral Burpees (over bar)
I can not tell you enough times how poor eating can ruin everything. I struggled running 200m! That’s just crazy talk! But it’s true. I was so beat down after running the measly 200m I just wanted to lie there and not do the Push Ups. As for the Push Jerks, I went with 85lbs and although they felt good I had my umph in my try. So I did 2 or 3 at a time. Physically it felt good to get the weight up, mentally I was in a haze. I only managed to get 1 full round in with a run, 20 HRPU and 3 Push Jerks into the 2nd round. As for burpees. I went as slow as I could without just completely quitting. I managed to get 24 in 3 minutes. HORRIBLE!

So that’s it for now. Day 2 of clean eating (sort of)! At least I’m making the efforts I suppose. If I can figure out kiddo scheduling tonight I should be hitting up the Boom Box tonight. I guess that’s it for now. I’m trying my hardest to find my way back to AWESOME. So go ahead and be AwEsOmE for the both of us! Thanks and Happy Tuesday!

Pressing On

Yup I’m pressing on. I have been feeling weak. It’s true. But in the end I know I’m getting better. It may not be as huge as others but I know that slowly but surely things are clicking (except for pull ups of course). And this morning in the car I heard an old favorite song of mine by RelientK and it just got me amped that I just have to Press On. Leave all my crap behind. So here goes it. If you’ve stuck around with me long enough you know I have these ups and downs. I realize it. But it’s still gonna happen. I’m pretty sure that’s just a part of being human. 😀

We’ve had unusual warm temps and it’s been quite nice showing up to the BOOM Box not freezing to death. I definitely think it helps that we are warmed up much more quickly.

Skill/Strength: Press 1,1,1,1,1
With Press my weight is low so there’s not much in regards to jumping through weight. After several rounds of warm up, Leigh and I decided to start at 55lbs for our first 1 rep. The goal was to do 55, 65, 70, 75, 80. Being that 70lbs is my 1RM that I’ve been stuck at that would give me two attempts to PR. When we got to 70lbs we traded out the 10lb and 5lb plates for 15lb plates and 2.5lb plates. Oh but I wasn’t paying attention. And the 5lbs were on there. So I go for my 3rd attempt and think wow this isn’t easy and it’s 70lbs which I tend to do fine. WOW I SUCK! Well I get it up and rack it. Notice the 5lbs and realize I just PR’d! Finally! I broke that damn 70lb wall I’ve been hitting for so long. Of course a PR gets you all excited so you want to see if you can jump even more, but that didn’t happen. 80lbs was not in my cards today. Still happy for my little PR.

1/25/13 WOD

MetCon: 20 EMOM – Even Minutes 2 MU, 6 CTB, 8 Chin Ups, 10 Ring Rows; Odd minutes 5 Press @65% of your heaviest in the strength portion. If you didn’t go RX then you had a buyout of 40 Ring Dips.
Leave it to me to screw up in the first round! I thought I had to do 2 Pull Ups because I saw the 2 in front of MU and wasn’t using my brain. So I was done really fast not realizing I owed 6 more reps. I moved on to minute 2 clueless and proceeded with Press. Went back to Pull Ups and everyone realized I didn’t do 8, doh! It wasn’t on purpose. I went and finished my 8. It definitely was not on purpose. But that first round was failed because I didn’t finish Pull Ups. As the minutes wound down. I had 3 more failed rounds due to Pull Ups. I finished all my Presses at 50lbs. So I had a total of 6 rounds completed. I still put Pull Up effort in managing about 5 each round I failed at. I proceeded to do my ring dips in sets of 10’s. That gave us enough time to rotate with everyone else. I feel better at those, band assisted of course, but dang my shoulders were DEAD! I’m hoping tomorrow involves Cleans or something I’m good at!

Whole30 Days 23 & 24
Still not excited about cooking but still plugging away at it. I can’t imagine myself eating anything else though. So even though I’m still having a hard time finding the excitement in cooking you still will find me in the kitchen prepping away. And the kids seem to find some fun in helping me every now and then. I think they are more about the sampling than anything but if they are going to be in the kitchen they know they will be put to work. So it’s a WIN/WIN situation!

1/24/13 Lunch – Sauteed Chicken, tomatoes adn spinach, with sweet potato chips and kiwi.

Last night, I was really at a loss on what to eat. I did remember to portion out some chicken for me for dinner since I knew Ernie would be gone for the evening. Whew. Saved my day right there, because by the time I got home from work and baseball I forgot. I was seriously stressing over what I was gonna eat. I had a whole chicken defrosted but I like to roast those and I didn’t want to wait the hour for it to cook. So after I got the whole chicken cooking. I got some onions, tomatoes and chicken warming up in a skillet. Added some red chard and dinner was done! My favorite way of eating has become this skillet meal of proteins and leafy greens. It works. Eat some coconut flakes, guac or sunflower butter and I’m good. It’s quick easy and it always tastes good.

1/24/13 Dinner – More sauteed chicken, onions, tomatoes, red chard, guacamole.

Once the whole chicken was done roasting I portioned it out for Ernie, me and extras. Unfortunately before I portioned it out, I ate pretty much all of the skin. It was extra tasty last night and I just couldn’t help myself. How bad am I?

This morning, I ate some of the roast chicken for my PWO meal and a carrot. While I was eating all of that, I had some bone broth heating up and I was adding the rest of the chicken to that along with sweet potatoes, carrots, onions and spinach. My oldest wanted some so I got out more chicken broth, doubled the veggies and we both had lunch cooking away. Now’s the time I wish I would invest in a thermos!

24 Days and I’m killing it! I’m feeling really awesome. Even when I did the 21-Day Sugar Detox I caved for Mother’s Day. I paid for it and fell into a sugar coma. But on Whole30 that 1-2 servings of fruit is good for me. I don’t eat fruit everyday but knowing it’s not restricted I think is better for me mentally. I just found Dare You to Blog yesterday and Meredith wrote about her sugar detox experience. And the one thing that stuck out most was her comment that food will always be there:

Food will always be there. I am fortunate enough to be in a place where the treats and cheats I may be tempted by, such as the frozen yogurt mentioned above, will always be available to me. I don’t need to have this froyo now, or those chocolate-covered almonds today. I don’t need to dig in to the free bagel breakfast or the rice-rolled sushi at this very moment. When I want it, when I’m ready for it, it will be there waiting for me. With that in mind…

She’s so right! Why haven’t I implemented this same thought process! I mean it’s not like it’s wiped off the face of the planet. It’s not going ANYWHERE. For me those little words were like a breath of fresh air. A new perspective. Cleaning up is good for you. It’s not gonna hurt you and if you don’t like it, ah well. Go back to your ways of dirty, processed, sugary, chemical eating. I keep telling you I feel great though. I haven’t felt bloated or achy in any regards beside sore muscles. In December I was waking up with pains in my wrists. Now all that pain is gone. I have had one headache but that was on my major cleaning day and I’m pretty sure it was chemical induced from cleaners. There is ZERO brain fog which is great.

If you’ve ever eaten clean for an extended period of time and then went off the rails then you must be able to relate. It’s almost like you’re hungover or under the influence for sure. It’s bad and so weird how eating one or two meals that aren’t clean can do that to you. No one has any idea that they too are living in brain fog until you clean up your eating! It’s crazy. 6 days to go but I’m in a good groove. Let’s hope the groove keeps on rolling!

Friday! Deep Breath In! Yay for Friday! Have a magnificent weekend! My youngest will be 10 tomorrow! Double Digits. Young men I have, 3 young men! Aaahhhh. I wish they wouldn’t grow up so fast! Anyhoo, BE AWESOME in all that you DO! Press ON!

Hard Yolks, Runny Yolks, METAL YOKES?

I definitely did not get enough sleep last night. Stayed up too late and had a hard time waking my sleepy head up. Alas, I did wake up and hauled my butt to the BOOM Box. I better get to bed soon tonight because I have my 5th WOD for the week in the A.M. This is my first full week at the new scheduling. It’s not that I have never shown up more than 4 times a week. But typically the 5th day would be a community work out and more group/fun based. I’m not saying we didn’t put in work but it was a different atmosphere. Granted I won’t be able to tell much after one week, but I can at least gauge how I feel as the weeks build upon each other.

Skill/Strength: 2RM Press
My shoulders have been plaguing me. Mostly I believe because I sleep on my sides and I don’t do enough mobility. So this morning I really had to stretch out and warm up for any part of my shoulders to feel good. As I warmed up I was feeling good at 65lbs. Did 2 reps no problem. 70lbs is my 1RM and I’ve been stuck here for quite some time. Today I made a tiny dent by getting 2 reps at 70lbs. In my excitement I jumped up a WHOPPING 5lbs and it was a fail! I should just be happy I had more than 1 rep at 70lbs! I guess

1/11/13 WOD

MetCon: 4 rounds of MAX YOKE CARRY for 20 seconds, MAX PUSH UPS for 20 seconds
I’ve been calling the YOKE that EVIL SLED, EVIL PROWLER, but in the end it’s a YOKE. A 185lb one at that! The ladies were supposed to put 25lb plates on each corner for this MetCon. I however dropped to 10lb plates. The reasoning behind this is that I picked up the yoke and it was way low to ground and I did not feel confident. So 10lb plates it is. And I also had the bar lowered to get a little more air between the ground. After the bar was lowered I realized it was a little easier and 25lb plates would have been feasible, but this was after I started. No time to change it now A little disappointed knowing I would have been fine at a higher weight. Ah well. 20 seconds doesn’t seem like a lot but it does add up. I did fine until the 3rd round. I think my core had had enough between Push Ups and carrying the Yoke. I dragged on Push Ups which wasn’t good at all. I ended up carrying the Yoke 96yds and completing 32 Push Ups. It was mentioned we will do something similar soon so mentally I will be ready!

Whole30 Days 9 & 10 (1/3 of the way there!)

Pulled Pork ended up being FABULOUS. My lunch yesterday made me a happy camper! For dinner I went with my old fallback of Spaghetti Squash and Pasta Sauce with GrassFed Ground Beef! This time around, since my squash had been sitting in fridge, I sauteed the squash in GHEE with some garlic and shallots. This was very nice flavor profile when combined with the meat sauce. Added some roasted broccoli to the mix and dinner is served! I did end up eating some fruit after all, 6 cherries.

1/10/13 Lunch of Pulled Pork, Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli, Asparagus and Avocado

Day 10, 20 to goSmooth sailing from here I hope. It’s hasn’t been all that bad in the first place as long as I’m prepped. And since I don’t want to fail I have made sure I have defrosted protein and at least one veggie that is easy to cook. This morning I didn’t feel like I exerted my self the same as earlier in the week so I only had one Hardboiled Egg with some Sweet Potatoes for my Post Workout Meal. For breakfast I had some Pork Belly, Kale Chips, TBS of Sunbutter, and I heated up some more Sweet Potato and an Egg Muffin. This is all very easy to eat on my commute to work. Whew. Lunch will be more leftovers of Steak, Broccoli and Cauli Rice.

1/10/13 Dinner of Spaghetti Squash, Roasted Broccoli, Pasta/Meat Sauce, and Avocado

Dinner is TBD as it typically is, I have some Pulled Pork left as well as Pasta/Meat Sauce and plenty of veggies so that will probably be the plan. Like I have previously mentioned, it does get old and routine. I don’t have time to hit up the grocery store daily and my meals tend to have that Wash, Rinse, Repeat rhythm but at least it all tastes good and I’m hitting the mark.

Mood: Overall my BRAIN is clear, my EYES are bright, and I’m just in a good place. Today I’m dragging a lil bit but I know that’s due to not enough sleep.

Have a fabulous weekend. Hopefully there won’t be torture waiting for me at the BOOM Box tomorrow morning!! Other than that Be AWESOME and all that Jazz.

I HURT … EVERYWHERE!

Yes boys and girls the ACHE set in and it’s so much more than an ache. My body was glued to the bed this morning. It was crippling and probably pretty hilarious (if you were watching me at least) as I got out of my car this morning! My legs are fried. And when I sit down at my desk I try and support myself by holding on to my desk but that’s a mess because my shoulders are dead. I’m a mess folks. I even went light weight yesterday, but squats and GRACE did me in! Was the little fat girl in me telling me to sleep in this morning? She sure was but the slim and trim imaginary girl was telling me I better get moving if I was going to get back on track.

Skill/Strength: Press 6, 6, 6, 6
Of course the idea is to push ourselves here and being all weak and pathetic I still gave it a go. I worked my way up to 65lbs for my last set of 6 and I was doing so well until the 5th rep and I just bailed. I think my brain just quit on me. I know I had more in the tank but I didn’t push. Overall I felt much better at press than I did squats yesterday… and press is my weakness! Just patiently waiting for that PR that’s due on this movement already!

12/18/12 WOD

MetCon: Fight Gone Bad Style 3 Rounds – 1 minute DUs, 1 minute HR Push Ups, 1 minute Plate Burpees, 1 minute Lunges, 1 minute Rest
As I have proclaimed in the past, double unders are my superpower. A weak superpower but it’s the one movement I know I can do with success. I still have a long way to be badass at them but I can knock a few out rather quickly. My whole upper body is dead from Grace yesterday so Push Ups and Burpees sucked. Burpees were extra sucky because we had to jump on a plate which isn’t as bad as burpee Box Jumps but still not fun. I was quite slow in that minute. Because I did suck so much on push ups and burpees, I really tried to pick up the pace with the lunges. I could only do so many before my legs were on fire each minute but I did the best I could. Total Reps: 305 (thank goodness for DUs!)

Now I sit here typing away and every inch of my body aches. Part of it, I know! Welcome back to the JUNGLE right?!?

Please take this advice and NEVER EVER take more than a week off EVER. Unless of course you are injured, then heal up. It seriously feels like I’ve been off for months. Hopefully I bounce back stronger than ever but for now I still feel weaksauce! Tomorrow is a rest day…woohooo… but I have a Christmas DIY project that I hope to share with y’all. Until then continue to be AWESOME.

Happy Early Thanksgiving!

Where oh where has this year gone? I am truly Thankful for just surviving day in and day out. That I’m blessed with my GREAT family and even you might think I’m just too whiny on this good ol blog that I’m really not that much of a downer! I enjoy everything and everyone in my life. I hope everyone does take the time to reflect on their blessings whether they be small or large. Happy Thanksgiving!

Now onto my BOOM Box morning of which I am thankful for as well. Being a CrossFit Junkie is made much easier when you love your box and the people in it. It’s not a chore to get up at 5am and get my butt whooped. I look forward to it unless of course my muscles are dying then I’m a little scared!

Skill/Strength: Press 5, 5, 5
Goal here was to get close to your max by your last set. I know my max is 70lbs… been stuck here forever and not sure why! But it is what it is. So after warming up I started at 55lbs. Not so bad. Moved up to 60lbs and still not so bad. Went for 65lbs for my last set and even then I only struggled on the last 2 but still “knew” I would get it up. Now I’m curious as to what my new PR could be!

11/21/12 WOD

MetCon: 100 KB swings (1POOD), 75 Jumping Air Squats and 50 Hand Release Push Ups
Seriously?!? My hips and legs are smoked from KAREN and 1.5 miles of running…errr… walking/jogging. We did work on some hip mobility but after doing the 100KB swings I was definitely fatigued. I knocked out 55 UNBROKEN, then started losing the forearms. Took a small break, knocked out 5, 15, 25. Don’t even get me started on the Jumping Air Squats. I was smoked. My legs are dead, my hips are dead and now my back is chiming in. Took me a lot longer than it probably should have if I were feeling 100% but I chipped away. Finally got to the HR Push Ups. I feel like I knocked these out alright. About halfway through my right shoulder started shouting at me but that’s gonna happen! Time: 11:14

On another note: Some giveaways may be on the horizon so there’s something to be excited about! Wooooo for free stuff!

Have a fabulous Holiday Weekend! Be AWESOME and support Pop Warner Football Team Arlington Thunder if you can… right here!

200 CONTINUED

Friday was my 200th Post which for me was an accomplishment but this morning I FINALLY broke through my Deadlift plateau of 185lbs! If you follow me on the twitter (77txgrl) or are a friend of mine on FB then you know that I hit the MAGICAL (for me) 200lb MARK! Bittersweet – because I feel like I should have hit that number months ago but still stoked that I finally made some gains!

As far as the rest of the BOOM Box morning. Here goes it:
Skill/Strength: 2, 2, 2 @ 95% of 1RM Back Squat
I’ve been feeling pretty strong lately, which is a GOOD thing because normally I feel weak. After last weeks accidental PR on Back Squat, I made sure I did my math right using the CORRECT 1RM! This put me at 137lbs. So I decided I would work up to 135lbs and do 1 set of 2 at that weight, then move up to 140lbs and finish out with that. My second set was the most difficult but I really fought for it. My last set was a little easier but my form started giving out. I have a hard time keeping my chest up, I suppose that it’s not hard, I just don’t REALIZE I’m letting my chest fall forward. Breath, knees out, etc, etc. CHEST UP! Some days I’m on it, some days I lack. Overall I felt good.

11/5/12 WOD

More Strength: 1,1,1,1,1 Press (15 minutes) and 1,1,1,1,1 Deadlift (15 minutes)
The goal here is to start heavy, after warming up of course. So ideally Coach wanted us to start our first rep at 90% of our 1RM and work past our 1RM in hopes of a PR. My shoulders have been my weakness lately and I wasn’t sure where I would go. I only have a 70lb Press so I started at 60lbs and decided I would work up 5lbs at a time. Got to 70lbs and felt good, moved to 75lbs and failed. Coach had me try to move more quick like when approaching bar and I did for my last set but a big NO GO for 75lbs. Next time I will get that PR!

Moving on to DL I was hesitant. I knew I had to start heavy but I always hit 185lbs and don’t ever go up from there. So I started at 165, moved on to 175, made another jump to 185, then got gun shy. I baby stepped to 190 and I did it! Now where do I go? Coach saw me debating and said let’s go for it, jump up to 200lbs. Well HOLY CRAPOLA I pulled it off the ground and it was ALMOST EASY! It wasn’t really EASY but it wasn’t as hard as I though it was going to be!!! That being my 5th rep I stopped but looking back I wish I had been more aggressive. But who doesn’t wish for more looking back, I just didn’t want to be disappointed AGAIN. I would have been perfectly happy at 190lbs but 200lbs was the icing on the cake for a Monday!

A great day at the BOOM Box after a weekend of laziness and poor eating. And I wasted a Pefectly Cooked Pumpkin as well by doing NOTHING. Ah well, it was nice to get some sleep, naps and comfort foods. Seriously time to kick myself in the ASS and get serious about the clean eating.

On a different personal note… Does anyone have good fundraising ideas or contributions to help support my kids football team getting to the National Championships? I’ve never been good at fundraising but the team is doing well in playoffs. They need money to travel. It’s not cheap and I’m not rich. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Have a great MONDAY folks! Be Awesome!!!!

Happy Wednesday

Ya and Halloween too. I dress up for work or any party that I may go too but not a real big celebrator of the day. And I did make the effort to get up on my REST day and go to the BOOM Box dressed up and WOMP WOMP, no one else dressed up! Ah well. C’est la vie!

Skill/Strength: Pull Up Work
Definitely a NEED in my world but so hard for me to WANT to do it and I never put the practice in So we worked on some dead hangs and kipping. I suck at Dead Hangs. Kipping has come for me pretty easily, I just need the PULL UP part. I for sure need to make myself do Pull Up homework.

10/31/12 WOD

MetCon: TABATA of Situps, Mountain Climbers and Strict Press
Situps I don’t mind. Mountain Climbers I despise! and Strict Press to finish it was brutal. We weren’t even halfway through the Mountain Climbers and my right shoulder was fading fast. By the time our rounds for Press were about to start I was toast. RX was 65lbs, my 1RM is 70lbs so I chose to do 55lbs. Should be challenging but not horrible. Uh did I mention BRUTAL already?!? I don’t remember how my rounds broke down, I know for certain I didn’t even get the bar up on one round and I only got 2 reps on another round. We scored this Tabata for total reps and I finished with 26. I really expected more but there just wasn’t MORE!

Food NON-Update: Still a slacker on what to make with pumpkin. Hopefully tonight I’ll get motivated.

It’s a short post today. I know some of y’all are thinkin “WHEW!” hahaha. I’m just happy the bees are gone… we hope. Got a little bit of honey but not a lot considering we could have probably shared with all of DFW. Bee guy takes it all But now hopefully our neighbors won’t hate us. Have a great day. And of course you know the drill – BE AWESOME!

Can’t get over the whole bee thing!

idrankthecfkoolaid

and it's good

Press

I’m Squatted Out

Obsessed, Insanity or Just a Healthy Addiction

Being Consistent

Trying

Pressing On

Hard Yolks, Runny Yolks, METAL YOKES?

I HURT … EVERYWHERE!

Happy Early Thanksgiving!

200 CONTINUED

Happy Wednesday

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